Epistle To My Dearest Brother
by Jester310
Summary: One silly mistake had left Corazon with a bruised head and a broken arm. Instinct immediately took over and transforms Doflamingo from a prideful and sadistic being into a nurturer and somewhat an overprotective big brother. Everyone is amused, except for Corazon himself. Family fluff.


**Title: Epistle To My Dearest Brother **

**Pairing: Doflamingo x Corazon a.k.a Rocinante**

**Rating: From K to T **

**Warnings: Language, grammatical mistakes and a fluffy-ness between brothers.**

**Summary: One silly mistake had left Corazon with a bruised head and a broken arm. Instinct immediately took over and transforms Doflamingo from a prideful and sadistic being into a nurturer and somewhat an overprotective big brother. Everyone is amused, except for Corazon himself. Family fluff.**

**A/N: Yes, yes, yes. I know Doflamingo is pure villain of October month (I chose October because I was born in this month), but I simply couldn't stop myself from visioning the other side of the evil, former World Noble. Hey, a woman needs to fantasize once in a while too, yes? So enjoy…**

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Young Trafalgar Law stared at his handiwork, slightly impressed with the accomplishment he had achieve within one hour period inside the ship's sickbay. It wasn't anything fancy. No, really. He hadn't performed a surgery on a man with spilled guts hanging out from a disemboweled stomach nor Siamese twins who shared one heart and kidneys. If the later was the case, the raven haired boy would have just killed one of them and hid the dismembered body parts in somewhere appropriate. Somewhere like Corazon's closet for instant.

But none of that actually happened. Nope, not at all.

In fact, front of him was an arm. And of course it wasn't a bloodied, severed arm or whatnot. Even better, it was Corazon's arm with a fractured ulna.

Law really wanted to cry in joy if it wasn't for the fact that Doflamingo was currently standing—extremely close—right fucking behind him. Asshole had been picking on him quite a lot lately—pulling his hat over his eyes and kicking him from behind whenever the younger Donquixote saw fit—and perhaps God had took pity on him and sent one of his angels to bestow punishment on the executive. Perhaps, just perhaps, the assigned angel had purposely poured the most expensive brand of olive oil on the path where Corazon was walking, resulting a rather dramatic fall with an outstretched arm.

That, or the blonde man was being his clumsy self again.

Either way, the boy was pleased with this whole ordeal, more so when the man was at his mercy in ensuring that his arm is fully workable after few weeks period.

"Serve you right…" Law muttered under his breath while his small, wet fingers nimbly smoothing the final layer of plaster surrounding Corazon's injured arm. "Always acting like an asshole—owwcch!" The boy however, failed to finish the rest of his insults when his left ear was flicked hard by Doflamingo.

"Watch your language." Almost like any normal parent, the captain of the ship laced his words with a mild warning tone.

With a single pushed of his foot against the bed frame, Law spun around on his swivel chair and faced the older man, finger pointed accusingly at the younger Donquixote. "But Doffy! He's always—" Too bad the boy didn't get to finish his sentence when once again, his ear was flicked by the blondes' long finger. This time, it was the right one.

"Hush, Law. Corazon picks on every brat on this ship. Baby 5 and Buffalo never complain like you do. Not even Dellinger. You're the only one who keeps on complaining this and that." One hand placed on his hip, Doflamingo reached out again in attempt to pull the boy's ear but Law saw through his attention and was quick enough to dodge the incoming punishment by rearing away until his stool practically bumped against Corazon's knee, earning himself a winced from the injured man.

As he leaned his back against the wall, Doflamingo nodded towards the direction if his brother. "Now finish off with what you were doing or else dinner would have to start late tonight." The blond man said while his fingers picked on the curled edge of the poster next to him –some cartoon characters of children standing next to each other with multiple hearts design as background together with letters that clearly spelled '**Little People Matters'**.

This was in fact a new poster, replacing the old one featuring a D-Cup Nurse clad in a pair of bikini while holding a syringe. They had actually, forgotten that there were children present in the ship. So when little, tiny Dellinger had asked—in a baby talk manner—on why the woman in the poster had huge balloons stuck on her chest and why Jola's balloons weren't as big as the one in the poster, everyone immediately scrambled around, shifting the responsibility to one another. At the end of the chaotic mess, Pica was the one who did the explaining after Doflamingo had decided to use his authority as the ship's captain and chose who would be the sacrificed lamb.

Yerp, hard lesson learned.

With a huff, Law swiveled back and averted his attention back to patient. The patient, namely Corazon, had barely even winced throughout the treatment. Not even when the boy twisted his injured arm a bit too much in order to push the bone back into the original position. _Asshole must have kept his poker face intact in order to piss him off._ How the insufferable blond managed to withstand the discomfort and painful feeling without batting an eyelid was beyond understating. Last time such unrefined technique was performed on Gladius when the man had suffered the very same injury, the spiky haired man looked like he was ready to revive the one who had broke his arm from the land of dead just only he could shoot the man over and over again. Probably at somewhere more painful.

However, Corazon did let out an inaudible hiss when the young doctor had swapped some alcohol to the cut on his forehead and Law felt the corner of the his lips was tugged into a very rare, sadistic grin—

Great, it appeared that he had spent too much time around Doflamingo for him to develop a particular psychotic behavior.

"It's just a simple, closed fracture." Law muttered as he trimmed the excess plaster using a pair of scissor. "As long as you don't do anything stupid like hanging from the monkey bars, your bone will heal normally within few weeks. I don't think there's any damaged nerve…" He emphasized his point by pricking Corazon's thumb with a pin a little bit too hard and smirked when he saw blood began to well on the skin.

Corazon could only yelp and glare with annoyance even though the boy couldn't see it since he had his grey orbs glued on the newly made injury on his thumb.

Not wanting to acknowledge the blond irritation, Law placed the pin back into the tray along with other medical supplies including anesthetic in which he had refused to use it on Corazon just to make the man more miserable than he already had. Since there was no open wound on the executive's body, the boy couldn't exactly pour salt or lemon onto it. So this will do just fine.

Well, not that Law actually had any time to waste to bring lemon and jar of salt into the sickbay anyway.

"But tell me if you lose some feeling in your hand because if that happens, you probably going to need a surgery. And I'll be more than happy to be the one who dissect your arm." It didn't escape Law's eyes when Corazon flinched at the word surgery. _Ohh-hooo… So the Heart Executive is afraid of a tiny, itsy bitsy knife._

"Fufufufufu. As expected from the ship's doctor. So enthusiastic." Doflamingo ruffled the boy's short, spiky hair and Law fought the urge to knee his captain in the stomach. But considering the difference of height at that moment, the blow would probably—most definitely—land on the crotch instead. So Law held back the wish and saved it for later vengeance.

Instead, the young doctor hopped off from the stool he was sitting, grabbed the tray and mumbled, "Remember, no heavy activity. And try not to smoke. Even with two good hands, you keep on burning yourself and now with only one hand, you'll probably end up burning the whole ship."

A scowl was the only non-verbal respond Law received from the patient.

"Law." Called the captain before the boy could as much as touch the door knob. The said person turned and gave a questioning expression. "I've gotten you the book that you've been wanting for months. It's in the library."

"Which book?" Law almost cursed like a pirate himself when the scissor slid to the edge of the tray.

"The second volume of Anatomy and Physiology, From Science to Life."

Almost instantly, the boy's grey eyes shone like crazy. Even crazier than those children thrown into a candy shop with a banner that spelled '**Free Candy Today. Eat Until Your Teeth Falls and Your Gum Bleeds**.'

"I-I thought the book won't be out until next month?" Too excited with the man's revelation, Law even stuttered his sentence. Heck, they could make fun of him later, but for now, he needed—no, he MUST confirm the other's news whether it was the truth or just simply one of Doflamingo's many bullshit.

The Cheshire grin plastered on Doflamingo's face was all Law needed to see. "With a gun and simple persuasion, the publisher company was _more than happy_ to comply with our request and print one copy especially for you. You'll have to thank Gladius later."

Grinning, Law didn't as much offered any words of appreciation to his captain as he slammed the door open and bolted his way towards his destination with a tray and along medical supplies in his hand. His destination: The Library.

Doflamingo stared at the dust and sand left by the boy for another five seconds before focusing his attention back towards his younger brother. Still sitting on the infirmary bed, the younger blonde was seen tapping his cast with a slight interest, naked and free of his shades and usual ridiculous makeup. Not entirely naked though since Corazon still had his boxer on along with his detachable hoodie. Earlier on, both Doflamingo and Law had forcefully stripped the executive off his clothing in order for the young doctor to fully examine his injuries. Lucky enough, the only apparent mishaps Law detected were the cut on his forehead and of course, broken arm.

"Don't pick on it."

The younger Donquixote immediately stopped the tapping, looked up and stared at his brother for a good three seconds before quickly shifted his mischievous fingers to another subject—the loosen thread of the blanket.

"Well?" Once again, Doflamingo crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall to have a better look on his younger brother. Half ignored, Doflamingo knew Corazon was aware of the many sub-texts behind that single word but pretended that he didn't.

The captain sighed and continued, "How the hell did you manage to break you arm? Did someone accidentally spilled gallons of high quality olive oil on the road and you slipped on it? Or maybe a monkey left dozens of banana peels on the stairs? To be honest, I'm actually amazed that you've survived up until today with that clumsiness of yours. It's either the Lady Luck loves you that much that she has never left your side for even one second or she's simply a retard."

In respond, Corazon glared rather heatedly at his big brother.

"What? Stop looking at me like it was my fault that you tripped on your own feet."

The glare intensified tenfold. If Doflamingo was a normal citizen, the older would be incinerated by now. But he didn't. Not now. Not ever.

_Asshole. It was Doffy's fault in the first place that had him in such predicament. _He didn't just slip and fall down in the middle of the road because he was clumsy. At lest, not this time around.

It was his shoes. His damn, bloody shoes with outsoles that has been thinning out for quite some time. There's barely a grip between his foot and the ground since the coefficient of the friction was next to zero. So he fell down easily. Yeah, tell that to the press.

Therefore, his search for a new pair of shoes went on for two months—he's quite a picky when it comes to footwear—, and when Corazon finally found a perfect pair that matched his taste by ninety-nine percent, when his fingers only millimeters from grazing the perfect looking shoes, he was then pulled away roughly by Doflamingo. Apparently, a marine vessel was spotted closing in to the harbor and they needed to get their asses moving in half a shake or two.

_Stupid Doffy ruining his moment. Stupid marine and their timing. Stupid Sengoku and his stupid rice cracker codes. _Really now. Why couldn't they use much cooler and needed codename like '006' or '007' instead of stupid name like 'Okaki' and 'Arare'? At some point, the second generation Corazon was almost convinced that there's a complete asshole within the Marine Headquarters who had accidentally—or purposely—put a fast ingesting poison into Sengoku's dinner in order for the old man to come up with such ridiculous code name.

If that were truly the case, then, Corazon felt that he had every liberty in this world to punch that particular fucker twice in the face and one in the gut.

While the younger blond was still glowering at his brother, Doflamingo corked his head to the side in a confused manner. It was beyond his comprehension on why his little brother was acting as if he was the one who ruined his life, with all that glaring and scowling. If he remembered correctly, it wasn't his fault that his brother slipped on that very step, hit his head multiple times as the younger tumbled his way down and broke his damn arm. Right?

… Right?

The captain shook his head, took the shades off only to wipe the surface with his un-tucked dress shirt. "I don't know why you're acting like a bitch right now, but can you hurry up and put some clothes on? Dinner should be ready by now."

The shades was back perched on the bridge of his nose and Doflamingo only watched as his brother let out a short huff before grabbing his white, heart printed shirt from the floor. It took him a solid two minutes to just slid his whole uninjured hand into the sleeve and another five minutes to slid his fractured hand HALFWAY through another sleeve. By then, Doflamingo's patience was already at its limit as he tapped his shoe against the floor repeatedly.

"What the hell taking you—" The older blond cut his sentence in the middle as he pinched and massaged his forehead before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Nevermind."

Peeling his body off the wall, Doflamingo walked briskly towards Corazon. Five long strides was all he required to shorten their distance and once he was close enough, he pulled his brother by his good arm.

"Come one. Stand up." He murmured and tugged Corazon's arm, beckoning his brother to follow his order. "You're taking too long. If we're having stew tonight, I'm not surprised if there's a duck swimming inside the pot."

Corazon frowned. There was no sense in his brother's remark just now, in one way or another. Still, the executive did as he was told and didn't much as comment—not that he could—while he watched Doflamingo try to slid the rest of his newly casted arm into the sleeve by tugging the end of the fabric with extra force. The older however frowned afterwards when his attempt was met with a little success.

"It's impossible." Doflamingo murmured, tugging the end of his sleeve with disdain. "You won't be able to use long-sleeved shirt for a while. The hole is just too small for that cast to get into. You'll just have to go shirtless tonight."

In a faster than any possible moment, the younger Donquixote snapped his head up, clearly not pleased with his brother's suggestion, if the widening eyes was any indication. _T-then, he'd be cold! And how he was supposed to enjoy his meal feeling all cold and that, especially when he was looking forward to tonight's dinner?_

Given that Corazon was too transparent with his action, Doflamingo gave his younger brother another option. "Either that or we rip the sleeve a bit—"

Horrified with the captain's idea, the executive immediately pulled his sleeve back from Doflamingo's clutch and held it protectively close to his chest. _There's no way he could rip his shirt. This is his favorite—_

"Oh please…" With two sets of eye rolling motion, the older blond disturbed his brother inner monolog as if he could read Corazon's mind. Maybe in this case, he really could.

"You have dozens of shirts just like that. It won't be the end of the world if I ruin one or two—"

Corazon's eyes went a fraction wider. _So he's planning to ruin more than one?!_

As he gritted his teeth, Doflamingo groaned at his brother's childish attitude. "You're being ridiculous and it's getting us nowhere! It's either shirtless or shredded sleeve. Take your pick, little brother. Come on, hurry up!" The captain snapped his fingers few times right in front of Corazon before his mind could wonder to God knows where again.

Being forced to make a decision, the executive weighed his options. Not that he had many to begin with. Still, after looking at his options from many different angles—up and down, left and right—Corazon finally made his choice.

With a great length of reluctance, the shaggy haired man offered his sleeve for Doflamingo to ruin.

"Good boy." After patting Corazon's head twice, a sarcastic remark along with a simple flick of his finger, the sleeve was officially cut—from the edge up to the contour of the executive's arm. To the younger blonde, there was no sight as depressing as this and he could only watched his ruined sleeve clung helplessly, unable to hug his arm anymore. Another two sets of gloomy sighs and only then Corazon allowed his fingers to do the buttoning job. They didn't exactly do a very good job though since after few minutes has lapsed, only two buttons were done properly and now he was left with five more.

Right in front of him, Doflamingo could feel his eyes twitched erratically behind his shades while he watched his brother still fumbling with his goddamn buttons. Simple task with no complication or whatsoever and yet, the man just had to wonder on why Corazon appeared as though he was in the middle of taking down a huge fire breathing dragon with that panting and grunting.

"Give me that!" Irritation was bubbling inside the captain before he slapped Corazon's hand away and took charge of the buttoning process. Too startled with his brother's sudden advancement, the younger reared away and almost tumbled backward when his knees bumped against the mattress. Luckily, Doflamingo was a fraction faster to grab the front of Corazon's shirt and pulled him forward. The executive made an 'ommpphh!' sound when his face collided with his brother's chest before he quickly pulled away, shaking his head from left to right to remove his front bangs from covering his eyes.

"Stay still." Mumbled the older as his fingers nimbly working on the buttons. Yet, Corazon still flailed and squirmed like a wet kitten, minus the meowing and Doflamingo wasn't content with such behavior.

"Rocinante." There was a hint of warning in the captain's tone.

Almost immediately, Corazon froze up at hearing the way his brother pronounced his real name. The younger pouted, obviously displeased with the way Doflamingo treated him like he was a helpless child.

Doflamingo ignored his brother's discontented expression and kept on buttoning his shirt. Done that, the captain then tugged and straightened up the wrinkled collar. Once finished, Corazon huffed and sidestepped the older and practically stomped his way towards the infirmary door, ready to make his way to the dining area.

"Rocinante."

The name-calling stopped Corazon from fully exited the room. Standing in the middle of the entryway, the younger blonde spun on his heel and threw the deepest scowl of the day that clearly screamed _'what is it this time?!_' towards his brother, unaware of anything else but Doflamingo's deadpanned expression. Had he extended the field of his vision, Corazon would have noticed a pair of familiar jeans held by the man's right hand.

"You're still pant-less you know."

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If Doflamingo believed the incident in the infirmary was the last fiasco of the day, then surely he had drunk too much rum few hours prior. Because what was happening right now on the dinner table was no fiasco. It was a total pandemonium. And the captain was more than certain that other family members could not agree more. Hell, Doflamingo was sure that Gladius would have strangled the perpetrator of the pandemonium with his bare hands if it wasn't for the fact that perpetrator himself hold the position of the highest executive.

Doflamingo didn't blame the marksman. Even he would do the same thing if the perpetrator wasn't his own biological brother—Corazon.

Within just fifteen minutes, the younger Donquixote had managed to break two glasses, spilled the orange juice all over the roasted beef, had his fork stuck on the wall thrice and smacked Trebol in the face for God's knows how many. And within that very same fifteen minutes, Doflamingo so far had heard '**ouch**!', '**Nooo! The wine**!', '**watch it!**', '**ewww, my eyes!**' and the list went on endlessly. Every time Corazon tried to pick his food from his plate, it would then land anywhere but inside his mouth.

If there's anything worse, they practically landed into everyone else's plate. Poor Baby 5 who sat the farthest from Corazon even had a mini sausage covered heavily in ketchup flew towards her direction and hit her right in the face. Now the girl was seen rubbing the ketchup that got into her eyes furiously with a napkin, helped by Buffalo who sat next to her. Forget other family members; even Doflamingo was now staring at the small piece of maple glazed salmon that had just flown into his plate with disgust.

He wasn't being paranoid, but the captain was almost certain it looked half chewed.

Corazon was about to stab his fish again when a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Stop, Corazon." Lips pursed in exasperation, Doflamingo was able to prevent his brother from hurling another chunk of food into somewhere more awkward. The only place that came into the captain's mind was Jola's cleavage.

"Just—just stop." A deep sigh ensued. "For fuck sake, Corazon. You only have one broken arm, not both arms chopped off. The only space inside this room that hasn't been polluted by your flying food is Dellinger's milk inside the bottle."

As he muttered out his frustration, Doflamingo snatched the napkin sitting idly on the table and used it to wipe some gooey cheese that clung on the younger's cheek. Annoyed, Corazon wanted to slap his brother's hand away but the narrowed eyes of Doflamingo's clearly told him otherwise. There was almost a pitiful whine erupted from the back of his throat when the captain rubbed his cheek a little bit too hard but the older took no heed of it, throwing the napkin away once he deemed that his brother's face was free from any half eaten food.

Two sets of grunts from both parties—as well as defeated sighs from other family members—, they continued with their own meals. Or at least, that was Corazon had thought. But before his fork as much as grazed his grilled fish, Doflamingo snatched it away, along with his plate filled with half eaten dinner. How wonderful. Now everyone including his brother is pissed and there'd no dinner for him as punishment.

And he's still hungry.

Disappointed and hungry, the younger blond was about to stand up but halted almost instantly when he heard Doflamingo said,

"Sit your asses down, Corazon."

So he sat.

Next to him, the older Donquixote had abandoned his own meal as he cut the identified object in Corazon's into much smaller pieces. He was too embarrassed to refer it as maple glazed salmon any longer—as grand as it might sound— because of the sorry state the fish was put in to after all that prodding and stabbing done by his little brother. Instead of grilled, the fish looked dangerously close to something that was battered by a hammer over and over again. So Doflamingo cut it, using the proper utensil—fork and knife. He tended not to utilize his Devil Fruit ability inside the dining area under any circumstances.

Last time he did, the table along with few plates and mugs was sliced into pieces. Once again, hard lesson was learned in a most unlikely place.

Doflamingo continued cutting, ignoring the murmurs and Corazon's scrutinizing gaze until there were about ten small pieces of salmon inside the plate. He ignored the ridiculous way his brother jolted in his own seat when the older suddenly spun to his side, stabbed one of the fish with a fork and brought it close to the executive face. Or to be precise, close to his mouth.

"Well?" The older blonde dangled the fork right in front of him, seeing that the other was pursing his lips so tight that they were beginning to turn red.

Wide eyes, Corazon looked at Doflamingo as though his brother had just offered him a mind altering drug he had purchased from another dimension. The executive even reared his head away when the piece of fish was about to touch his lips. This was ridiculous! It was the same fish he had been lusting for the entire day. It was the same fish he has been eating just now—but failed miserably. And yet, when held by his brother, that very piece of fish looked a lot more sinister that it should be and Corazon refused to acknowledge such veil thing.

Then again, maybe it wasn't the fish. Maybe it was simply because of the fact that Doflamingo wanting to spoon feed him—or fork fed in his case.

At that sudden realization, Corazon was officially horrified. _Oh, no, no, no._ _He will not be spoon-fed by anyone, let alone his brother!_ Since the very evening, Doflamingo has been babying him non-stop and it irked the younger to no end. From the shirts, to the pants and now even dinner. It wouldn't surprise the executive that much anymore if his brother suddenly had the urge to bath him, tuck him to bed and sing him lullaby. Even the thought of it made the younger blonde shuddered. That moment, Corazon wished there were papers on the table for him to write and tell Doflamingo to stop being a complete asshole and he had a shitty babysitting skill. To hell with acting mute! To hell with being Marine undercover! To—ummpphh—ummpp!

Corazon's inner monolog was replaced by a choking noise when the blond captain had shoved the fork right in between his parted lips as soon as he saw an opening. Though amused, Doflamingo didn't let go off the chance and quickly stabbed another fish and brought it back to his brother's lips. This time however, Corazon saw through the dirty move and was quick to dodge the incoming attack. Doflamingo frowned and thrust the fork forward again but the other dodged his head to the left.

While dodging his head to the right, left and down, Corazon still took his time to properly chew and savor the maple glazed salmon inside his mind, all the while glaring at his brother who patiently waiting for him to get his guard down.

_Fuck, the salmon taste good! Fuck Doffy and his mother hen attitude!_

"Rocinante!" Doflamingo barked in hope that his silly little brother would stop dodging. No luck at all. Not only that he was still rearing his head away, Corazon had even taken the initiative by grabbing his hand that was holding the fork. Had he known that his brother would be this uncooperative, the captain would have allowed Law to chop both of the executive's arms and he knew that the young doctor would be more than pleased to do so considering the friction they had in between them.

By now, all the other family members has stopped eating, drinking and even chattering as they observed the uncommon scene before them. Really, for their captain and his little brother playing tug of war during dinner was really something they don't have the luxury to witness everyday. Or even every year.

"What are they—" Senor Pink began.

"Ssshh! Ssshh!" Jola shushed the man sitting next to her. "I want to enjoy this. You don't get to see this often."

Senor Pink wasn't anywhere impressed with the show nor that was he obligated to. Shaking his head, the man merely continued feeding another spoonful of the creamy potato mushroom soup to Dellinger, and wiped the corner of the toddler's mouth with a napkin once in a while. The small child has just begun to learn eating solid food and Senor believed that a simple soup was a good start. Feeding little Dellinger was time consuming which required a lot of patience, but at very least; his obedience was ten times better than Corazon.

As for the subjects of their topic, Doflamingo's effort to feed his little brother was met with a little success and the man was at his limit. He pushed, tugged and shoved, but similar to him, Corazon was relentless.

"Rocinante, just open your mouth and eat the damn fish."

Corazon shook his head violently.

"The food is not going to magically disappear from my hand and reappeared inside your stomach, little brother. So I would suggest you to open your mouth before I shove this whole plate down your throat!"

_Fuck, fuck, fuck! There's no way out of this humiliation! _All eyes were on them—left and right, back and front, up and down if that even possible. There was no escape from Doffy's fork-feeding and with their not-so-small difference of strength, Corazon was losing to the game in a very rapid succession, that much he was aware. Injured, unable to speak and seek assistance, the Heart executive did few things that came into his mind.

Corazon dodged, Corazon twisted and Corazon ran.

There was mixture of emotions as Doflamingo witnessed his brother ran away from the dinning table—shocked, confused with a hint of guilt trip. The captain stared at where Corazon was last seen for another minute or two before he dropped the fork in his hand with a loud clatter, startling the other family members. It was noticeable that the older Donquixote has lost his appetite when the man didn't as much do anything to his half eaten dinner aside from pushing his seasoned potatoes and raw onions all over the plate.

Everyone else tended their forgotten dinner, acting all casual as though they weren't the least interested with just had happened.

… As fucking if.

"He's soooo angry at you~" Diamante grinned next to the former World Noble and snickered further when multiple veins popped out on his forehead. Refused to acknowledge the truth behind the man's words, the blond didn't bother to make any apparent comeback other than stabbing his potatoes hard and punishing.

_Damn Diamante and his stupid remark… Damn he hates onion…_

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Inside his own room, Corazon didn't waste even a moment to shut his door before making use of his Devil Fruit Ability.

"Calm." With a snap of fingers, a spherical sound proof wall was created around him. No sound in. No sound out.

"Arrrgghhhhh! Stupid, stupid, stupid Doffy! How dare he?! How dare he treat me like a mere child?!"

Similar to a child that had just dropped his lollipop, Corazon stomped his feet repeatedly against the wooden flooring while screaming obscenity. He pulled and tugged his hair in frustration and grabbed the nearest thing he could reach from the nightstand before hurling it towards the only window in his room. The glass shattered from the impact and the object and flew straight through the newly made hole and into the open sea.

Corazon winced and stared at the gaping hole for a moment or two when a sudden awareness hit him like a heat wave. The object that was used to manifest his frustration just now was one of his irreplaceable treasures given by Doflamingo—a heart shaped obsidian rock. In contrast with its natural black color, it actually had a snowflake appearance due to small white inclusions of Crystobalite within the rock. Doflamingo had picked it up in a form of block near a volcanic area where he sent it to an artisan after that to be carved into a heart shaped.

And he had given it to him, his little brother. As his birthday gift.

Now Corazon officially felt like a royal shit.

With a short gasp, the executive ran toward the damaged window and slammed it open, and poked his head out. Down through the darkness, Corazon saw not anything but spreading black masses. The thick, heavy clouds in the sky were ravening enough to block any ray from penetrating their defense. No moonlight sparkles on the water. No shimmering silver illumination. The sea had swallowed his treasure and buried it deep inside its belly. The only thing the blond could hear was the sound of wild waves smashing into their ship.

"Fuck!" Corazon cursed loudly, cradling his head with his palm. He has lost it. He has lost his birthday present in the midst of anger. What would Doffy think of it? What would his brother feel if he knows? _Stupid, clumsy, Rocinante…_

The blond could feel his knees quaked underneath him as he thumped his forehead repeatedly against the wall next to the window. He was upset about anything, about everything at that moment. Every little thing appeared at fault to him.

'_Selfish Rocinante…'_ Thump after thump, Corazon could hear his conscience spoke in his mind, the words rang again and again like a broken record.

"Corazon."

Corazon blinked. Odd… His conscience sounded louder than usual. And it never called him 'Corazon.' Ever…

In an ensuing stillness, the blonde could feel someone was staring at him, boring holes through his head. _No, no, no. It could not get any worse than this._ With one swift movement, Corazon spun around and felt the heart in his chest stopped when the image of his brother filled his vision.

Right there, in the middle of the room.

_Uhh—ohh._ _How long have Doffy been standing there?_ _Did his voice reach his brother_? Being caught by someone from the family is bad enough, but being caught by Doflamingo would be the worse shit that ever occurred to him in this ship.

Lips quivered and back pressed firmly against the wall, Corazon appeared more like a cornered gerbil than a top executive. But at that moment, some sort of heavenly ray must have been shone upon him because the blond still had enough sense to cancel out the invisible sound barrier he had put up inside the room. He snapped his fingers softly behind his back and the barrier disappeared without a trace. Even so, the blond still felt everything around him went stagnant, more so when Doflamingo still had his stare fixated on him. It was suffocating till the point that Corazon couldn't decide which is what.

"What?" Doflamingo suddenly spoke and he just had to raise his eyebrow when he noticed his brother almost jumped a foot in the air. Odd, yes. Confusing, definitely. Because for a split moment, the captain could have sworn there was stillness in the air the second he stepped into the executive's room. No sound, not even a single vibration in the air. But the instant they made an eye contact, everything was back in place.

The older Donquixote shook the peculiar feeling away and focused on the subject of his true concern. "I did knock, you know. You're the one who didn't hear me." The captain added, feeling a tad worried about his brother's behavior. He turned his head to look if there's anything unusual standing behind him. Nope, nuu—uh. There's nothing there. Not at all.

"I brought food."

Blue eyes slowly trailed over to what Doflamingo had in his hand—a plate filled with food. And the plate hasn't been sliced into dozen pieces. _That's a good sign._ Once Corazon noticed that his brother appeared oblivious about the uncertainty that had just occurred inside the room, it was only then the younger blond allowed himself to breath properly, to allow a long relief sigh to escape from his constricting lungs and to allow his heart to start thumping normally. _Doffy hasn't realized…_ _That's good, but not good enough._ His life wasn't in jeopardy at that moment, but the executive has yet to escape this whole ordeal.

He's still a one-armed man, he's hungry and he's still annoyed with Doflamingo above anything else.

And he has lost his precious treasure. _Damn, dumb, asses…_

Not wanting to make eye contact with his brother any longer—because of the stupid guilt trip—, Corazon quickly made his way towards his bed, sat down and faced the window, giving his back for everyone in this whole world to witness. Or at that time, for the captain to see. He ignored his brother and his soft sighs, still refusing to acknowledge the other even when he felt the mattress dipped further under Doflamingo's weight.

After a minute sitting down on Corazon's bed, Doflamingo was still staring at his brother's back. The man rubbed the back of his neck and placed the plate on his laps. He was aware the reason behind the younger's frustration, but he certainly wasn't prepared for him to be this angry to the point of denying any type of communication with him. Doflamingo was about to open his mouth when a sudden gust of wind slapped him in the cheek. A small frown carved his forehead once the older Donquixote saw the large, gaping hole on the window glass and the creases deepened when he noted the missing object on Corazon's nightstand.

"What happened to the window?"

Silent.

"What happened to the obsidian rock?" _The one that I gave to you_, Doflamingo wanted to add in anger, but the imaginary puppy ears on Corazon that were pinned all the way to the back and clamped to the skull held him back. Slowly, the younger brought his hand up and pointed at the window and for a quick moment, the captain could have sworn he heard his younger brother sniffled. Bits and pieces merged together and Doflamingo could pretty much make out the situation.

Doflamingo sighed behind his brother. "It's just a rock, Roci…"

Another long stretch of silence hung in the air. Just when the captain thought his brother was going to ignore him some more, Corazon grabbed the notebook along with a pen from the nightstand and began scribbling. He tore the paper from the book and flipped it for Doflamingo to read, but otherwise still refused to turn around. To the older Donquixote, that was a huge progress.

**'But you gave it to me.'**

Doflamingo stared at the scribble and shook his head. "I can always search for another one like that and get the artisan to carve it the same way as that one."

Another scribble. **'It won't be the same anymore.'**

"Of course it won't be the same. It's two different rocks, they can't be the same. But I'm still going to search for another one with my two hands, take it to the artisan myself and give it to you as a gift. From a brother to his little brother." As he reasoned, Doflamingo tapped the edge of the plate on his laps softly with the fork.

"Then the value would be the same… Right?"

Slowly, Corazon nodded, the strings of his detachable hoodie swayed a bit as he did so.

The older sighed softly. Well, at least that settled. "Come one. Turn around. I've brought you food."

Another paper came up. **'Not hungry.'**

With a dramatic eye roll, Doflamingo snorted. "Bullshit. You skipped lunch and you've barely managed to stuff food into your mouth during dinner and I know you'll raid the kitchen later in midnight. And what happened the last time you did that? Half of the kitchen got burnt and you got a toilet paper length lecture from Diamante."

Corazon pouted, unhappy when that incident was brought up.

"Look, Roci. You must accept the fact that you're clumsy and destructive even with two good hands and legs. Nothing can be done about that and everyone here is pretty good in putting up with it." Using his foot, Doflamingo nudged Corazon's side. "Come on. Stop being so stubborn and eat. You know how I feel about starving…Makes me remember stupid stuff…" The older sounded pained and boy, if that didn't make the other twitched.

_He's not giving up._ That was the first impression Corazon was giving to his brother. But at the end of his thought, the younger slowly turned around to face Doflamingo, where the other fought back a relieved smile. He grabbed the plate in his brother's laps but frowned later when the older blonde held it in place.

Corazon tugged the plate.

Doflamingo tugged the plate back towards him.

Corazon scowled.

"All right, all right! Fine!" Doflamingo finally released the plate and held his hands in the air. "I get it…You don't need me to spoon-feed you. But seriously, Corazon. If there's any more chunk flying arou—"

All of sudden, half of Doflamingo's world was blurred. He blinked and felt nothing wrong with both of his eyes. Then the blond took of his shades and saw the left lens of his glasses was covered by the thick spaghetti sauce. From his shades, the captain allowed his eyes to trail over to the floor where two meatballs were lying comfortably on the floor. _That was fast…_

The older blonde looked up and saw Corazon fidgeted violently under his stare. "Seriously…?"

Doflamingo held his arm out. "Fork." He curled his fingers a couple of time, beckoning his brother to surrender the piece of utensil. The rumbling noise coming from the back of Corazon's throat sounded a lot like a protest whine, but the older Donquixote took no heed and repeated the gesture, leaving no room for refusal on the executive's side. A small pout marred the younger's face as Corazon handed the fork to his brother's awaiting hand. He kicked Doflamingo's thigh in irritation when he noticed the triumph smile plastered on the other's face.

Nothing peculiar occurred throughout the meal. Every time the older blond brought the food up to his lips, Corazon would begrudgingly open his mouth and chomped it down, allowing the flavor to burst inside his mouth and spread all over his taste buds. As much as he wanted to vent at that moment, he just couldn't bring himself to—because damn, the food taste great! He did choke himself a few times on the fried chicken and multiples bunches of broccoli—stupid Doffy had laughed at him for that—, but despite the miniature chaos, no one was injured at the end of the feeding session. That was a huge success… yes?

"Go take your bath." Dolamingo took the empty glass from his brother and watched Corazon wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Through the corner of his eyes, the man noticed how his brother would flex his fingers while he rubbed his cast from time to time.

"Does it still hurt?" Juggling the glass and plate in his hand, the older stood up nodded at the executive's injured hand.

Corazon shrugged and began shedding his clothes off in preparation for bath.

"I'll get Law to give you some pain killer later." His feet still rooted to the very same spot while the captain watched his brother struggled to free his belt from the loops of his jeans. He should have left his brother with his own devices, let the younger do things on his own terms so Corazon wouldn't feel so helpless with himself. But still…

"Do you want me to help—" Shit, Doflamingo just couldn't help himself.

A mouthful of pillow was his only answer.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx****

"Are you sure you want to leave you brother alone?"

"…."

"He might have slipped on the bathroom floor and lying in his own pool of blood right now…"

A small twitch to his fingers was the first respond Diamante received. Then, slowly, the newspaper was shifted only enough to reveal half of the captain's annoyed face. Free from his shades, Doflamingo's now appeared a lot more like a normal blonde pirate captain with a brother complex and less like a fallen World Noble slash underworld trader slash someone who wishes for the world to be doomed along with the humans.

"He'll be fine." The blonde snapped his hands to straighten up the newspapers before burying his face further into the printed news portal. He leaned his back further into the sofa, nudging Diamante's leg to the side for the tall man to scoot few inches away. Earlier after he had left Corazon's with his own devices, the older Donquixote settled himself in the common area—the place where everyone could lay back and talk shits, gossips even. He had hoped for some peace and quite while he read, but his wish was crushed like a mere walnut as soon as Diamante sidled next to him.

And the grinning asshole still hasn't moved an inch away from him.

Diamante maintained his broad grin, amused with how Doflamingo easily got riled up when his little brother was the subject of their discussion.

"What are you doing?" The top executive heard the other mumbled. He looked at the log book in his laps attentively and tapped the surface with his pen.

"Budgeting." The scribbling was back. That had brought the captain's attention quite a tad since Doflamingo's folded the newspaper, letting it rest in his laps and peered thoughtfully at Diamante's book. "I'm making a list of what we need to restock when we arrive at the next island. The last time I forgot do the list, our expenditure went sky rocking because of a certain man that always abuses his authority to buy unwanted stuffs."

"Really…" The captain sounded disinterested as he picked few salted peanuts from the bowl laid on the coffee table before them.

"Uh—huh. And that unnecessary stuff includes a giant, flamingo statue. We've already had an enormous flamingo glued to the front of our ship. So I'm sure what you're trying to tell the world by having more of them inside the ship."

"Well…" Doflamingo stalled as he popped more peanuts into his mouth. "They're our focal point."

"And the porcelain urns?"

"That's—"

"How about the dining table?"

"The last one was broken, remember? We need a replacement. We can't just go and sit on the floor, right?" The blonde exclaimed, trying his best to distract Diamante and force him to look at much brighter side.

"You only sliced up one table. Why the hell did you have to buy another two big ass tables and another five coffee tables?"

"Uh…" Oh no. At that moment, Doflamingo wasn't sure if he liked Diamante's bland expression.

"And don't forget about the fifty numbers of ridiculous paintings you've bought. Do you know what happens every time I passed along the hallway in the morning and see those paintings?"

The captain shrugged.

"I got an instant heart attack." Diamante confessed while his captain avoided any sort of eye contact with the executive by staring one of the paintings on the wall that appeared like something had just died on it and left to be fossilized on the canvas.

Fine… Even he had a second thought about this one.

"If this routine goes on, I'm going to wither before I reach forty, Doffy." More mumbles and Diamante went back to his list. "You're not allowed to buy anything on the next island. So keep your claws off the money chest."

Not even a fraction of space was left for Doflamingo to argue. The captain huffed and began reading an article printed at the back of newspapers. His eyes didn't as much as reach the second paragraph when a pitter patters of little footsteps made themselves known. Less than ten seconds later, little Dellinger came running into the room in all his glory—wet and naked from top to bottom. Yes, there was a towel with him. But instead of having it wrapped around his miniature body, the child held it tight in his fist and dragged the towel across the floor with joy.

The adults really didn't know what to think about that.

"Dellinger." Diamante called for the toddler. He was acknowledged almost immediately as the child tumbled his way to the adults.

Once within his reach, the executive plucked the towel from little Dellinger and patted it all over the child's body to remove any access water. "Just where did you come from… hhmm?"

"Bath!" Little Dellinger cheered and giggled uncontrollably when Diamante towel dried his hair. He sneezed out a couple of time since his bare body had been exposed to the chillness of the night for more than a minute.

"Oooh?" Wrapping the fluffy towel around the toddler's body, the executive then picked him up only to allow Dellinger to perch on his laps. His was high in the air—at least for the child's standard—and the boy couldn't help himself from swaying his legs back and forth.

"Who else was with you?" Diamante asked further.

"Uhh…" Distracted by the image of a plush toy sandwiched in between Doflamingo's body and the armrest, the child began to crawl away from Diamante's laps in order to retrieve his toy. But, the man held Dellinger in place and nudged his captain to hand over the giraffe plushy to the squirming runt. Without letting his eyes off from the newspaper, Doflamingo plucked the toy from his side and gave it to the smallest member.

"Cowa-san!" Answered Dellinger before the toddler buried his nose into the giraffe's neck as he squeezed it close to his chest.

Diamante wasn't really happy with that answer. After all, Corazon was a helpless dude with zero concentration and compassion towards children. The younger Donquixote was barely able to get through his days without killing himself, much less helping a toddler with his bath. From left and right, top to bottom, the executive inspected the child perched on his laps, causing Dellinger to burst in laughter when Diamante's fingers accidentally grazed the skin below his armpit. The boy was wet when he came in, probably since he managed to take a dip in the bathtub. Somehow, the executive had to force himself to believe that it was a good sign. But when Diamante took a quick sniff on the child, the man knew he had more than ten reasons to feel uneasy.

Dellinger smelled more like Bolognese sauce and milk than a fruity soap.

When he took a peek at the toddler's hair, it was only then Diamante then noticed the disaster that clung on the fine, blonde strands.

"Is that…" Doflamingo too had stopped reading and leaned closer to Dellinger while narrowing his eyes in the process. "…what I think it is?"

In contrast with Dellinger joyful, kid-ish laughing, both men made a disgusted face.

"Where the hell is Gladius?!" Diamante's words practically rang throughout the whole ship, filling every nook and corner. "It's his turn to take care of Dellinger's bath tonight!"

Not more than three minutes later, Gladius came in. Clutched in his right hand was a spanner while his left hand was holding a tool box. Even the man was covered in sweat and grease with hair that put any rag doll to shame.

Amused, Doflamingo hold back laughter but a snort came in instead. "What happened to you? Halloween comes early this year?"

If the blonde wasn't his captain and a former World Noble, Gladius would have shoot the man straight in the gut.

"I was fixing the heater." Gladius wiped the sweat off his eyebrow. "If I didn't, everyone would be swimming in dead cold water by now."

"So it's fixed?" The captain just had to ask considering he had yet to take his bath. Him taking a dead cold shower in the night? Might as well run naked on the deck.

"Well," The marksman fought the urge to flip his hair in a contented manner. "They don't call me Mr. Fix-It-All without reason."

Both Doflamingo and Diamante exchanged glances. _'They?'_

"Whatever. Just take him back to the bath."

"He's already taken his bath." With a small frown, Gladius pointed out.

"Corazon's the only one in the bathroom just now."

"So?"

"He still smells like pasta sauce and milk and there's Trebor's snot stuck in his hair." Diamante deadpanned with a bland expression.

Beneath his mask, the marksman sighed. "Fine… Let me just put this things away first."

His boots made a distinctive 'click clack' noise as Gladius left the room, keeping in mind to bring along the newly bought rubber bath toys so the toddler would stay put inside the bathtub. A series of immense silence then reigned inside the room, saved for Dellinger's incoherent gurgles and humming.

"Giraffe, giraffe, running, running~~Cowa-san, running, running and roll on the floor~~"

That song certainly pulled Doflamingo's away from anything else in this world. The blond lifted his head and looked side way. "What was that, boy? What happened to Corazon?"

"Hmm?" The child looked up, his small fingers were tugging on one of Diamante's fancy buttons.

"What happened to Cowa-san in the bathroom, Dellinger?" The blond repeated his question. Only this time, he used the term _'Cowa-san'_ in hope that the toddler would understand his question better.

Dellinger appeared thoughtful for a moment as he latched his mouth on his giraffe's left ear. "Cowa-san sleep on the floor."

Oh—ooh. That certainly didn't sound very promising.

"He's probably tripped again." The executive informed the fact that Doflamingo was already well aware.

"I know."

Diamante wasn't finished. "And now he's lying on the floor... Maybe he's fainted."

Doflamingo frowned at the hypothesis.

"And buck naked. And maybe he's really lying in his own pool of—"

"Diamante!" Doflamingo hissed. _That's it!_ A quick pat to the boy's head and the blond stood up, ready to sprint his way to where his brother was. This is beyond absurd. He had left his brother not more than half an hour, but Corazon was already trying to jeopardize his life. If by any chance his brother was subjected with critical injury at this time around, then Lady Luck must have found a new toy boy and now chasing the poor soul around while twirling lacy underwear around her finger.

To be honest, Doflamingo wasn't sure about this whole image of Lady Luck—because if that kind of lady was to get near his baby brother, the older Donquixote felt he had every right in this world to smack her three times across the face if that would keep her away. _Really now…_

Diamante's amused laughter was the last thing Doflamingo heard as he practically ran like a madman in fear that his little brother might be swimming in his pool of blood right now.

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For the past five minutes, Corazon has been staring at the bathroom ceiling. Didn't exactly know why he did that. Perhaps, at that time, the second generation Corazon deemed that he was too tired to even lift himself up. Or perhaps that was actually the third time he had slipped on the bathroom—face flat once and on his back twice. Or maybe it was due to the fact that he had fallen in a very weird position and had to use every ounce of his energy just to get into his current position and now suffering from a major back-ache with multiple twisted muscles.

He's still in his twenties but he's already experiencing a muscle ache. This is beyond ridiculous…

Without warning, the bathroom door was slammed open with such force that made the executive felt pity towards the hinges.

"Corazon!"

Shocked, the younger Donquixote sat up straight faster than when he had fell down and heard the nasty 'pop' sound coming from his back. He immediately clamped his lips together to prevent any curse from escaping his mouth. Something had just snapped and it hurt and Corazon wished death to himself… and maybe to his older brother. Groaning, the blonde massaged his back and shot a dirty look towards Doflamingo who appeared far more amused than concerned about his wellbeing.

At least, the muscles and joints were back to their original positions…

"You've been lying on the floor for half an hour?" Doflamingo leaned his side against the door frame, his arms were crossed over his chest. Apparently, his little brother didn't look that disturbed at the reality that he was wearing only his birthday suit as Corazon continued to message his back.

Once the pain had subsided to a tolerable degree, the executive slumped slightly forward and looked up only to discover that Doflamingo was still there. They both exchanged quite a long stare before Corazon broke the staring competition by looking down on his laps.

… Then back at Doflamingo who still has yet to move from his spot.

Then back on his laps in which Corazon's line of vision has narrowed down to the thing hanging in between his legs. Doflamingo. His laps. Dolamingo. His laps. Up and down. Up and down.

After the forth cycle, it was then the younger Donquixote pointed at the door where Doflamingo was currently standing at. Corazon felt the familiar stinging sensation beneath his eyes, spreading from both his cheeks towards the tip of his ears. Regardless, he was content with the idea that his face at that moment was beat red due to anger, not from embarrassment. And he wanted the older blond away from him and he meant it now.

Doflamingo saw the hand gesture and looked behind him. "Oh, sorry. Of course." Oblivious with Corazon's dilemma, the former World Noble merely further into the bathroom and closed the door behind him. It would be bad if the children see him in that state, yes? Of course he knew that…

Something was throbbing madly inside his head, enough to make the executive's eyes twitched. Now Corazon really wanted to hit his brother. He had wanted for Doflamingo to leave him be and yet, not only that his brother failed to read the awkward atmosphere, bastard even closing their distance by moving further into the room and by means, towards him. But before he could get into Doflamingo's reach, Corazon quickly held his hand up and glared—a nonverbal means to tell him **'I got this!**'.

Although he wasn't all that convinced with his brother's nonverbal remark, the older blond somehow felt the need to respect Corazon's wish. So he stopped his advance, made a detour instead to the sinks area and leaned his side against it.

Despite the irritation bubbling inside him, Corazon felt a speck of relief when he knew that he had managed to get his point across Doflamingo's thick skull, and thus, stopping his brother from doing whatever that jerk had in mind. His brother was watching him like a hawk regardless, and the executive prayed to all the deities up there so that the older Donquixote was blind enough to notice the damn blush clinging persistently on his cheeks.

With another set of grunts, Corazon managed to pull himself up this time and padded barefooted towards the shower area. The younger tended to avoid the huge bathtub whenever there's other family member inside the bathroom. For Devil Fruit users like him, although being submerged in bathtub filled with water wouldn't harm them as much as sea water does, but it was enough to make them lethargic. Obviously, it would be terrible if by any chance Doflamingo noticed the effect of the water on him. His brother could be dense or sharp-witted at the wrong place and wrong time.

Corazon kicked the stool to the preferable position and sat down. Even without looking back, he was well comprehended that Doflamingo was boring holes through him, watching his every movement. He had planned to take his own sweet time, bathing in his own pace. But when you have a mother hen standing few feet away, ready to launch at him, Corazon had no choice but to chuck his plan into the toilet bowl and flush it down. For now, a super quick rinse with zero fatality was all he was aiming for. Full stop. So with a small sigh and scrunch of his nose, the younger blond went to grab the soap bar from the rack.

And then it happened again—a fatality.

The soap somewhat managed to escape from the confinement of his fist and flew over across the room. Almost like a motion picture, Corazon's wide eyes could only watch as the soap bar practically grew wings and soared in the air before landing right on Dolamingo's forehead with a distinctive 'thud' as the man made a dreadful mistake of looking up. At the exact moment the soap left his brother's head and landed on the wet floor, Corazon felt every single of is nerves has frozen up.

_Why soap, why? Why couldn't you grow bigger wings so that you could fly further up instead of landing on Doffy's head? _

An eerie silence issued inside the room as both blondes stared at the soap bar. And when Doflamingo lifted his head up, Corazon couldn't stop his body from jolting on his stool and the executive made a feeble attempt to scramble away once he saw his brother stomped his way towards him.

"You better not move your ass from that seat because trust me, little brother," Doflamingo spat out his words in between gritted teeth before he continued. "You really are going to be the death of me."

Before Corazon could get away any further and out of his reach, the older Donquixote quickly extended his hand, grabbed the back of his brother's neck and practically dragged him back to his stool. Corazon squirmed and twitched madly under the ministration and the man let out inaudible gasp when the Doflamingo applied more pressure in his death grip. There's no helping it. After all, his neck has always been his weakest point and it seemed that his brother was aware of this fact and the man wasted no time taking advantage out of his weakness.

While his little brother clawed his hand for him to loosen up his grip, Doflamingo ignored Corazon's feeble attempt to escape and simply tightening his hold. He didn't as much as twitch even when the executive's blunt nails sank further into his skin as the captain used his foot to drag the nearby stool towards him.

"Sit still, will you?" The older blond muttered, his other free hand went to fetch the shampoo bottle from the very same rack the bar soap was placed. By the time Doflamingo sat down on his own stool right behind Corazon and put the bottle next to him, the younger Donquixote has gone God awfully quite except for the occasional wheezes and pants. Shoulders sagged, it seemed that the executive had used every little ounce of energy he had left for the day and could do nothing more but to submit to his defeat.

Doflamingo's eyes trailed over to the shampoo bottle and then back to his brother. One usually required both hands to bath someone else, especially when that someone was as uncooperative as a wild kitten, yes..?

"Roci," The captain called his brother by his real name. "I'm going to let go of my hand but you must promise not to run. If you as much as try to dodge, I swear I'm going to tie you up good with my string and hang you upside down on the mast." Doflamingo pulled the other slightly towards him and whispered in a rather menacing tone into Corazon's ear. "NAKED. You got that?"

Fighting a shudder, Corazon nodded feebly and breathed out a relief sigh when the pressure on his neck was removed. He couldn't allow himself to shoot any form of glare towards Doflamingo since he knew which color adorning his face at that moment.

Unaware with the awkward mood his brother was feeling, the older blond began to roll his sleeves up to his elbows. Corazon glanced sideway, noticing the shampoo bottle Doflamingo had just picked up and frowned afterwards.

That shampoo wasn't his. More like, it was Doflamingo's.

Corazon made a disapproval headshake and quickly pointed at the far end rack where he usually placed his shampoo. Throughout the evening, his brother was practically all over him and breathing on his neck. The last thing he needed right now was for him to smell like Doflamingo.

"It's too far away." Doflamingo mumbled as he refused to move from his seat. His brother was akin to some sort of slimy creature that day and the captain feared that Corazon would just slip away if he was to get his eyes off even for a second.

"What's the difference with this one anyway? It's just a shampoo, Roci…" He reasoned further and opened the lid of the bottle.

Almost instantly, Corazon felt all woozy when the whiff from the shampoo hit his nostril like a tsunami wave—rich, spicy and refreshing aroma with kunzea, citrus and some sort of essential oils. Mint and lavender perhaps? Whichever it was, the executive wasn't all that fond of such particular smell. It made his heart skipped a beat and somewhat giddy and Corazon blamed entirely on the damn essential oils and definitely not at the fact that his brother carried such smell with him all the time as if they were his second skin. Him on the other hand, has always preferred his body and hair wash to hold a light and earthy scents just like his usual shampoo does—sunflower and mountain tea that gives away a distinct, sweet and delicate smell.

But noooo! Doffy just had to be an asshole and did things out of his consent. Not enough with breathing on his neck all day long, he just had to go out and rubbed his scent all over him. He wondered if he could hit Doffy with the stool and get away with—Stop it Rocinante! Flesh and blood, remember? Flesh and blood….

While Corazon was having an intense inner monolog in front of him, Doflamingo frowned when he notices that his brother was swaying a bit from left to right. "We're going to finish this quick before you pass out in here." He mumbled, squirting a small gallop of the shampoo—his shampoo—into his hand and rubbed his palm together to create thick lather before scrubbing the blond head before him. Unlike his coarse hair, Corazon's was softer and silky enough for the strands to slip in between his fingers. Most probably it was because his brother had never interested in styling his hair with chemical product like him.

Doflamingo decided to leave the suds a bit longer on Corazon's hair instead of rinsing them off immediately and moved on to the washing part. Again, the captain grabbed the closest soap on the rack, earning himself a distasteful growl from his brother.

Once more, Doflamingo had chosen his own body wash as a torturing tool.

If Corazon was a normal man, born and raised at the other side of universe, he would have screamed obscenity and jumped out through the window by now. But he's a Marine Base Commander slash a top executive of a pirate crew goddamit! And he would undergo any torture subjected upon him without batting an eyelid and—fuck, something was touching his back!

Despite his earlier determination, the younger blond couldn't stop from leaping forward as soon as he felt Doflamingo's fingers grazed the bare skin of his back but the captain immediately seized him by wrapping an arm around his neck.

"Rocinante! Do you really want to be tied up naked that badly?!" The man hissed next to his ear in which Corazon responded by shaking his head violently. "Then for the last time, sit still!"

Everything eventually calmed down within a minute in which Corazon sat back on his bench with pursed lips and Doflamingo has started lathering and scrubbing his back. He closed his eyes a bit as the older Donquixote worked on his skin, up and down, left and right. It was hard to believe that the hands behind him was the very same hands that had put death on countless people with all that gentle stroke and Corazon really hated to recall that those were also the hands that had put an end to their father's life.

"Turn around, Corazon."

In a state of drowsiness, Corazon made a delicate headshake—a feeble attempt to deny his brother's request. That did nothing but irk Doflamingo. _Suit yourself then._ With that, the older slipped his hands around his brother's midsection and about to do the exact thing he had done with the back.

Just like that, an extremely unhealthy smirk tugged the corner of the older's lips.

Ignorant of his brother upcoming evil plot, Corazon continued with his half dozing, slightly wondering at the ticklish feeling concentrating at the back of his neck and his side. Then ever so slowly, the unfamiliar sensation began to creep towards his chest before spreading down to his abdomen and travelled further-

Corazon blinked. WHAT THE HELL?

The sudden awareness practically slapped him in the face in mere seconds. His senses were back in all proper places—his sense of hearing, smell and most importantly, touch.

What happened next was as expected.

Corazon snapped his head down only to catch the clear image of a pair of hands on his chests and the younger Donquixote was sure as hell that those limbs weren't his. Not in this world. Not even in any other universe. Covered heavily with thick suds, they moved, they stroked, they-shit! The word almost slipped passed his gaping mouth when the slithering fingers grazed his right nipple. At that split moment, Corazon forced himself to believe that he was shuddering due to the cold air and not from some other shitty sensual reason.

"Something wrong, baby brother?" A whisper came in. Too close in fact that the younger felt the warmness of the other's breaths caressing his now sensitive ear. Something was touching his cheek and Corazon didn't even dare to guess on why his brother suddenly felt the urge to rest his head on his shoulder. Doflamingo at that moment was pressing himself closed to his naked back that the executive could savor—cough—feel the comforting warmth radiated from the older blondes' clothed body.

Corazon was careful enough to whip his head to the side so he could shoot a disbelief glare at his brother in which Doflamingo responded by feigning a huge innocent frown. "What?" A chuckle came next and the younger Donquixote was damn sure the other was holding back a very well known perverted smirk. "Don't tell me you suddenly get embarrassed with me seeing you naked."

The narrowing eyes and flushing cheeks were good enough as an answer.

"Oh, please. We used to take bath together when we were kids. I washed your back, you washed mine, and it's nothing new." Doflamingo said nonchalantly as though groping and touching your naked brother was also part of their bathing ritual. He then pressed himself closer to Corazon and the captain didn't appear bothered by the suds that were clinging on his dress shirt as he enjoyed the way his brother squirmed under his not-so-innocent ministration.

In fact, Doflamingo was well comprehended of his brother's inner turmoil. Him, taking an advantage of his own flesh and blood? Oh please... God forbid that. Call him sadist, tyrant and someone who lacks of morality, but never would he do something that would jeopardize his brother's chastity. Of course, currently he was touching, groping and whispering next into Corazon's ear, but everything by far was done for the sake of his own amusement. His brother was one of those few people who are very good in masking his emotion behind his shades and cigarette and his damn poker face. So when such opportunity to crack that stupid bored face came hopping to him like over-energized bunny, Doflamingo sure as hell won't make a waste out of it even if that means he had to do something unusual.

Such as groping and touching weird department.

So when the older Donquioxote trailed his fingers across the other's chest and down to the side, it took every last drop of his willpower not to crack himself up and tumble over in a dead faint when Corazon let out inaudible gasp and hissed at him.

"Hmm..?" Doflamingo hummed, corking an innocent eyebrow in the process.

_B-bastard!_ Even Corazon found it hard to believe how his inner monologue could stutter and he blamed it entirely on the older's wandering hands. Without doubt his brother was messing with him and pervert was enjoying every bit of it. Now would a perfect time for him to hit Doffy's with the shower head until the bastard sees stars. Right? RIGHT?!

_Dear beloved mother... Dear beloved father... Please forgive him for he might commit a big sin that is hitting his one and only left blood relative until Doffy couldn't tell which is right or left. _

The confession of a molested marine commander was interrupted when the hands—Doffy's stupid hands—began to wander further. And by further, Corazon meant the Southern region, down and down where the pubic hair nestled-Oh Hell to No!

Faster than lightning, Corazon's good hand wrapped firmly around his brother's wrist, so tight that the force temporarily cut the blond circulation in Doflamingo's arm. His nails were not any less hostile either. They dug into the flesh mercilessly that would definitely leave five angry marks later on the captain's skin.

That is, if Corazon didn't decide to whack his big brother senseless.

"Roci~~If you don't let go of my hand, I won't be able to wash you properly~" Despite the sharp pain caused by Corazon's blunt nails, Doflamingo still upholding his wish to torment his little brother a bit further and slightly nipped the shell of the executive's ear. Extremely pleased with they way Corazon's breath hitched, the former World Noble then traced the tip of his tongue along the sensitive appendage. His brother, at that moment, even though was facing anywhere but at him, the scarlet red hue dusting the other's cheeks was enough to make Doflamingo grin from ear to ear.

Apparently, Corazon wasn't amused.

More than anything, the younger Donquixote felt rage—hot boiling anger flowing through his vein. Deep, brilliant red filled his vision followed by black spots scattering here and there.

In one swift movement, Corazon stood up right after he had manage to shook Doflamingo's hands off him, almost hitting his brother's face with the cast. Asshole must have tumbled over from his bench and now sitting on the cold, wet floor judging by the clattering sound behind him, but the executive was far too angry to care. Head facing forward, Corazon sidestepped his brother and continued walking away from him. He was still covered with the shampoo as well as the soap suds, but the marine undercover agent deemed that cleaning up would have to come later. For now, he needed to get away from Doflamingo before he hurt him for real.

"Roci, wait!" Doflamingo called after Corazon. Only now he realized that he had just pushed his brother too far from his comfort zone. The captain scrambled to stand up and when he finally did, the older blond quickly reached out for Corazon's hand. He grabbed on it to prevent the other from leaving. "Alright, maybe that was too much." With a cackle, Doflamingo tried to casual it up. "I was only kidding, okay? Come one. Don't tell me you're going to leave this room like that?"

That did nothing but fuel his brother's anger. Corazon still refused to acknowledge the other and tried to tug his hand free, but to no avail. One inch back, one inch forward—it was the most aggravating game of tug of war Corazon had ever experienced in his life. No matter how hard he tried to shake the offending limb from trapping him further, his hand was still trapped within the confinement of Doflamingo's fingers.

But it seemed that the executive had enough with this bullshits.

So with a sudden backward heave, coupled with more force than before, it was only then the younger Donquixote was able to free himself and of course, with a huge compensation—another fatality.

"Watch it—" Two seconds too late.

Before his alert could as much reach Corazon, the younger brother slipped on the wet floor and lost his footing, resulting the infamous _'Corazon's Backward Fall'_. Only this time, the marine undercover didn't get the hard floor as death bed. Instead, the younger blond fell straight into the huge bathtub with a massive splash—he was a large man after all. For the next few seconds, the water splashed around violently and hit the edge of the bathtub almost like a sea waves during heavy storm, some even managed to catch Doflamingo in the pants. It prolonged for another minute until the fierce waves subsided to soft ripples.

And yet, Corazon still hasn't resurfaced.

Doflamingo felt his heart palpated in a slight panic when his brother has yet come to view. Right under the water, the captain could make out Corazon's motionless form almost like a dead body.

"H-hey, Rocinante!" Kneeling at the edge of the tub, Doflamingo reached into the water, flailing his arm left and right until he got a firm hold of the executive's arm. Well, it was difficult to tell what and where you're actually touching, but under this kind of circumstances in which there's ninety percent chances of Corazon had hit his head and in the midst of drowning, the captain couldn't bring himself to give a damn about anything else other than getting his brother out of the water.

Once he had a solid grip on Corazon, Doflamingo didn't waste a second in pulling the executive out from the water. The head came up first and once it did, the captain watched as his brother gasped for air to fill his lungs while coughing some of the water in the process. Due to the lack of leverage—Corazon was naked after all—, the captain had hard time in keeping his brother above the water, but somehow managed to drag Corazon to the edge of the tub for the younger to hold on to. While three quarter of his body still submerged in the water, the marine undercover wheezed like there weren't enough lungs in his chest, his forehead rested against his arm the entire time.

"What's wrong? Did you hit your head or something?" Leaned down was what Doflamingo did as the captain ran his fingers slightly through Corazon's wet strands to see if there's any unusual bump formed at the back of the executive.

"I'm sorry, alright? Hey, Roci—"

Doflamingo stopped mid-sentence when the little brother slapped his hand away—too sudden in fact, that the other's nails accidentally nicked the captain just below his eyes. His body at that time, was shaking slightly, probably due to the lack of air to satisfy his depraved lungs or due to anger himself. But the older Donquixote had a very bad feeling it was the latter.

Inspired by fury and humiliation, the younger blonde utilized every last drop of his strength to pull himself completely out of the bathtub—all the while keeping his head down, refusing to look at the former World Noble in the eye. That gaze was distant, that for sure. The urge to help his little brother was there alright, but Doflamingo knew better not to push another one of Corazon's buttons. Even when the younger blond stood up and wobbled across the room, the captain kept the bundled up words behind his pursed lips. Corazon didn't as much spare a single glance throughout the short walk and grabbed his towel on his way to the door. He somewhat managed to wrap it around his waist with only one hand without any actual casualty which only emphasized how upset the younger Donquixote at that moment.

Doflamingo visibly winced when his brother slammed the bathroom door shut behind him right after he exited the room. By then time Corazon's heavy footsteps receded from his rage of hearing, the blond captain has already sat on the floor, Indian-Style while his palm went to cradle his head. A long sigh escaped his lips.

Once again, the situation between the Donquixote brothers seemed explosive.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxxxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx**

Back inside the safety of his room, Corazon allowed his weary body to plop backward onto the soft mattress. It has taken approximately five minutes for him just to put the pajama pants on and that was more than enough to drain whatever energy left in him. He wasn't the type of person who prefers sleeping fully, one quarter, half or even three quarter naked, but Corazon had to admit by now that for him to put his pajama top would require more than one good arm—the thing he was lacking at that moment or for next few weeks.

Topless and tired, the executive brought up his good arm only to let it rest on his forehead. To be blunt, he had never felt this exhausted, not even during his trainee days at the marine camp. Even now, Corazon couldn't muster the energy to decide who was the center of this chaos—him or Doflamingo? He vividly imagined the wounded frown etching Doffy's face when he had snapped at him. Doflamingo was being an insensitive bastard of the year, there was no doubt about that very fact. In spite of that, the younger Donquixote still couldn't shake the apprehension from escalating inside him, more so when his brother had carefully apologized to him.

"Shit…" Corazon muttered under his breath and closed his eyes. Sleep was all he desired that time but the marine undercover knew that such luxury couldn't come anytime soon since he has yet to deliver his daily report to his true superior.

With his body still resting on the bed, the blondes' good hand reached under the bed and extended further to grab the hidden Den Den Mushi. The snail appeared to be sleeping and didn't stir even after Corazon picked it up and placed it on his stomach. He stroked the snail's head and smiled apologetically. "Sorry for waking you up, little one. Gotta make you work a bit."

The snail purred slightly when Corazon scratched on the particular spot on its head, making the executive chuckled. He then dialed a certain number right after the younger Donquixote created a sound proof sphere around him. We don't want anyone eavesdropping on the conversation, do we now?

On the third ring, "Hello?"

"Arare, it's me." Corazon brought the receiver close to his mouth and spoke normally since he had zero worry about anyone listening to his voice.

"Oh, Rocinante!" At the end of the line, the young marine could detect a hint of ease in his superior's voice—Admiral Sengoku. "It's not like you to call this late."

Fighting back a yawn, the blond looked over to the door to make sure it was locked. It was. "Sorry I couldn't give you the report earlier… Doffy—I mean Doflamingo has been breathing on my neck for the entire day you see."

"Did something happen? Is he suspecting you?"

Corazon shook his head although he knew that Sengoku wouldn't be able to see the gesture. "It's not that…" A short pause. "I fell—"

"Why am I not surprised…"

For a quick moment, a small pout pulled his lips together. "And I broke my arm. And now my brother wouldn't let me off his sight. He even chased me all the way to the bathroom."

"Didn't really take him as a nurturing type…"

"He's not." Corazon countered. "He's just being his usual ass-holish self who enjoys tormenting his little brother by groping and touching—"

"He did what?!"

The marine undercover pretended he didn't hear the other's exclamation. In his mind however, he was visualizing Sengoku choking on his rice cracker or at least, spraying his tea across the table.

"—anyway, I probably won't be able to report to you as much as before. When we arrive on the next island, I'll try to shake him off and send you a fax of the names of the underground weapon dealers as well as their base—"

Just then, Corazon saw the handle of the door rattled. The only thing that came into his mind was the image of Doflamingo and that alone was enough to make him cringe. _Oh God… Please, no more…_

"My brother is outside, Sengoku-san. I'll call you back later when I have the chance." _That is, if such thing could happen in the next few weeks_ is what Corazon wanted to add, but he didn't. Instead, the blond quickly put the receiver down without bidding goodnight to his superior before shoving the sleeping Den Den Mushi to the usual hiding place. He cancelled the sound proof sphere once Corazon deemed that nothing in his room was out of place.

"Corazon… Are you listening to me? Don't tell me you're already sleeping." Corazon heard Doflamingo's muffled voice from the other side of the door.

_Fuck, what is it Doffy has been saying?_

He couldn't just open the door and ask his brother to repeat whatever nonsense he has been spouting on for who knows how long—he didn't even want to see Doflamingo in any matter. But if he speaks with the captain behind closed door using Morse code, Corazon imagined they would resemble a retarded couple who's fighting over a burnt curry.

The door handle rattled again and this time, the executive could see the one behind the door was getting upset with his silent treatment. Then it stopped.

"I'm sorry, Roci…" A long sighed ensued after that. "I was just playing around. Didn't mean to get you this upset. You know I wouldn't do anything strange to you—"

Corazon glared at the door.

"—alright, so I sort of touched you here and there." The young marine sat up, bringing his knees close to his chests and wrapped the blanket around him as he leaned his back against the wall.

"But like I said before, I just wanted to mess with you a bit. Not because I wanted to make you feel weird or anything…"

Separated by the wooden door, Corazon could hear some movement as though his brother was shifting his weight on left and right in a nervous manner. _Now that's rare…_

"Please tell me you're alright… If you still don't want to see me, just knock the door or something—anything. Because you hit your head in the bathroom just now so I—"

While Doflamingo was still babbling his words of persuasion, Corazon slowly stood up and padded towards the door, hand reaching for the lock.

_He must be an idiot for doing this… An idiot who didn't have enough heart to push his brother away…_

Outside the room, Doflamingo felt the heart in his gut lurched upward—the organ had fallen down below at the thought being ignored—when he heard the clicking noise. He then tested the integrity of the door only to find it unlocked. Small, relief smile spread across his face and the older Donquixote slowly opened the door by leaning his weight against it. The first image that filled the captain's vision the seconds he stepped into the room was the large—extremely large—mound on the center of the bed made from a blanket and… human. To be exact, it was hard to tell if it was Corazon hiding underneath the blanket when all the edges all precisely tucked under but Doflamingo convinced himself otherwise.

What bothered him the most was that his brother had accomplished the acts of unlocking the door and hiding beneath the blanket in less than five seconds flat. _That was fast…_

Doflamingo entered further into the room, stopping just out of easy reach in case his upset brother suddenly turned violent and wanted to rip his face off. His mouth opened to say something, but the words suddenly turned frozen inside his mouth as soon as the cold breeze brushed in around the captain's topless body. It whispered coolly through his damp hair and tickling his naked skin that made Doflamingo shuddered. Due to the large gaping hole, the unforgiving night wind managed to rush through the damaged window.

"You should sleep with me tonight." That really came out of nowhere and Doflamingo almost regretted saying it when he noticed the mound jerked before his little brother tightened the blanket around himself if that was even possible.

_Alright… Too early for double entendre statement._

"—what I meant is," Too late to retract his words, but at very least, the older Donquixote felt the extreme need to explain his current stand before his brother decided to claw his eyes off. "Your window is broken. And unless you want to freeze your ass off, you might want to sleep somewhere else."

Underneath the blanket, Corazon curled on his side and clutched on the cover.

The former World Noble scratched his non-itchy head. This seemed harder than he thought.

"Yes, I know you have blanket and all, but knowing you for more than twenty years, I also know that you have the tendency to kick your blanket away not more than five minutes after you've fallen asleep."

"… You hate sleeping in cold, right?" The older brother raised his voice a bit, hoping to win over Corazon without being loud enough to upset the executive any further.

Corazon scrunched his nose. Half of his self was still stuck in a realm of distrust while his other half was swayed by Doflamingo's concerned thoughts. Left with two options, the marine undercover agent mentally weighed his options. To sulk and having his ass frozen throughout the night or sleeping in Doffy's cozy, warm bed—he just know because his brother generates heat more than anyone else he has ever met—even though the captain was his least favorite person at the moment…

… Oh the dilemma.

By the time the weighing process reached the third minutes, Corazon's obstinacies which he has been collecting throughout the day began to run out like sand from broken hourglass.

"Roci..?"

_Oh he gives up…_

There was the muffled sound of shifting fabric as Corazon finally sat up and sighed softly with sagged shoulders. By then, Doflamingo just knew he had won the one sided argument, especially when his brother gave a feeble nod. His lower body was still in the twisted nest of blanket when the younger blond tousle his hair that had clumped together in multiple areas on his head. Only then, the captain realized how extremely damp Corazon's hair was.

"Dry your hair properly before you go to bed." Without thinking, Doflamingo snatched the towel resting on the chair and began rubbing it all over the executive's head. Corazon didn't even bother to fight teeth and claw this time—he was just too tired to do anything productive—and let his brother with his lecture to harass his ears. "You're going to get a major headache if you sleep with wet hair. How many times do I have to remind you?"

_Too many times indeed._

Few more rounds of patting here and there, the older Donquixote then ran his fingers through Corazon's hair gently. "Did you really hit your head in the bathtub?" Doflamingo tilted the other's head slightly downward to examine for any type of bump or cut on his brother's head.

"You weren't moving back there so I was pretty sure you fainted." He murmured further and was puzzled when he couldn't detect any oddity on Corazon's head. Only hair and normal skin.

Head down, Corazon made a gesture with his thumb and pointy finger.

"Just a little? I see…" The answer didn't raise suspicion out of Doflamingo. He hung the towel back on the chair after he was certain that Corazon's hair was just about dry and was about to gesture for his brother to move from the bed before the other suddenly thrust something into his hands. Bundled and not to mention wrinkly, Doflamingo stared at the newly-thrust item and dimly made out the thing in his hand which was a pajama top—one that matched with Corazon's pajama pants.

Of its own volition, the former World Noble felt his left eyebrow rose few inches. Corazon must have been too worn-out to dress himself properly. He stood up wordlessly and allowed Doflamingo to manhandle him despite the other's disproval remark of, "Why do you even bother sleeping with your shirt on? Now I have to destroy your pajama as well."

_Because I'm not an exhibitionist like you, you idiot._

Corazon let out a mental cry at the way his brother sliced half of the sleeve for his casted arm to fit into right before Doflamingo began buttoning his pajama all the way to the top save for the first two buttons. Hand reaching out to the bed behind him, the executive was about to grab for his blanket but the other had already had his arms around his shoulders and urged Corazon to forsake the cover and walked with him.

"Forget it. You're just going to kick your blanket away and steal mine later anyway."

In respond, the younger Donquixote sighed dejectedly twice as Doflamingo continue to drag him away. The journey to the captain's quarter was awfully short given that their rooms were just right fucking next to each other. As soon as they entered his brother's dark room—since light wasn't switched on—, Corazon didn't waste any precious moment and immediately staggered to the monstrosity that Doflamingo usually referred as bed.

Take it from him, it appeared a lot more like a bird nest rather than a bed.

Still, Corazon wanted to cry in joy as soon as his body hit the bed because fuck, sleep was all in his head right now. He noticed that the bed had been deliberately lined up next to the wall—because he swore that last time the bed was in the middle of the room—and he didn't get the real sense behind it until,

"Scoot," The older brother nudged Corazon's side with his foot. "I'm taking this outer side."

With one quarter of consciousness stuck in the realm of dream world, Corazon still somewhat managed to make inaudible protest noise.

"There's possibility for you to fall from the bed and break the other arm and I can't have that. One broken hand is bad enough for my heart." Again, Doflamingo pushed his brother. Not wanting to be the subject of the captain's persistent prodding, Corazon shifted until he was at the other side of the bed, soon to be sandwiched by the wall and Doflamingo.

And now came the moment to make another decision and hopefully the last one for the day—to sleep on his back or on his side and facing Doflamingo. Of course his option was to sleep on his side and facing the wall. But considering that would not only aggravate his injured hand but impossible from any possible angles, so now he was stuck with the other two. The mattress dipped further next to him as Doflamingo crawled onto the bed, rolled on his side and shifted further until he was close enough to tuck Corazon's head under his chin. Corazon merely rolled his eyes.

… Fine. On his back then.

Unaware of Corazon's mildly annoyed expression, Doflamingo pulled the blanket over their bodies up to the younger's chin. One of his arms was slung over his brother's torso as if to keep the executive in place while the other was placed on the pillow just so that he could stroke Corazon's head once in a while, at least until fell asleep.

In contrast with his body which tends to suffer from coldness easily, Doflamingo was a whole lot different story. The man was like a walking heater and the young marine just couldn't stop himself from leaning towards the source of heat. If that wasn't embarrassing enough, Corazon somewhat couldn't stop the traitorous purr from vibrating his chest when Doflamingo's slim fingers raked through his scalp. Aside the warmth and the petting, even the captain's masculine and heady scent, well as much as he hated to admit, was sort of comforting.

Both Donquixote brothers sighed softly. Outside the ship, on the sky, the dark heavy clouds from before was massing together. Nobody would be able to witness the frail white stars moved slowly over the sky. It was gloomy, black and white. It was dark. It was cold and not to mention bone chilling.

To Doflamingo, it was perfect.

"Hey, Roci…" Doflamingo mumbled, nuzzling his nose into his brother's soft strands. He was acknowledged by a soft head butt to his chin. "Just so you know… I really am glad that you decided to come back to me after fourteen years."

Trapped within his brother protective embrace, Corazon tensed. _Leave it to Doffy to pick shitty topic as pillow talk._

Tightening his hold on the executive, the older Donquixote murmured further. "I thought I would never get to see you again. Everyone tried to convince me that you were already dead… But I know you were still alive somewhere out there. It was really annoying when no one believed me."

Corazon knitted his brows together, not really liking where this one-sided conversation is going—because the marine undercover agent could tell that he would be left with a an _extremely _royal shit feeling at the end of the talk.

"Are you still angry that I pulled the trigger on father?"

As anticipated, no palpable respond coming from his little brother but he sensed how Corazon had turned rigid in his arms. That was all he needed to know. "I've figured as much."

"But I didn't regret it. Not ever." Doflamingo gave a stuttering sigh as his fingers still running through the younger's hair, the dark memory from distance was threatening to break free. "You're not going to understand why I did it back there, but I know you'll understand it one day. I know you will."

More than one occasion, Corazon was described as an oddball with lack of concentration. But he was no fool. Yes he was still angry at Doflamingo for pulling the trigger. It was wrong and he would never approve it, but at the same time, the young marine understood the reason behind his brother's action back there. Consumed by pure rage and hatred due to the torturous treatment they had received, it was understandable for a mere ten year old boy to develop a rather twisted personality despite having been nurtured by a kind father and mother. Back there, little Rocinante was still a helpless, weak child who unable to suppress his brother's madness.

It's different now. He was no longer the weak, frail Rocinante and he would do whatever in his power to maintain Doflmingo's madness at bay. It was probably too late to drag his brother back to humane path—the path their father had wished for them to follow—but as his little brother, Corazon trusted that it was his duty to prevent Doflamingo from straying any further. Deep in his heart, he prayed that his brother wouldn't drift to the path where he could no longer follow…

"Don't leave me again, Roci." Call him delusion, but Corazon could have sworn his brother's voice just now was uncharacteristic—soft, meek and pleading. Enough to make his inside clenched and his gaze softened.

"Ever."

He should have ignored this kind of pillow talk. He should have ignored Doflamingo and pretended that he was already asleep. But Corazon couldn't. Instead, he took the captain's hand off from his side and wrote two letters on Doflamingo's opened palmed with his finger.

**'OK.'**

Two simple letters, but it was enough to make the older Donquixote smiled in contentment. He brought his hand back to Corazon's side and began patting his brother's thigh as if to lull the other to sleep.

"Law told me that your arm might need up to three weeks to fully heal." Doflamingo suddenly changed the topic to casual up the heavy atmosphere just now. Under his chin, Corazon's felt the frown on his was back in place. That stirring compassion from before began settling down and replaced by annoyance at his brother's persistency in touching the subject—his injury.

"Don't worry little brother. I'm going to take care of you until then." The captain continued patting the younger's thigh in comforting manner, clearly unaware of the size of Corazon's eyes that was close to a size of dinner plate.

"…"

"You are in good hands."

In the complete darkness, unseen and unheard by Doflamingo, Corazon whimpered rather pathetically at his fate.

—**The End—**

**A/N: Fuhh…. Didn't expect for this story to be this long. But I had fun otherwise. Cheers!**


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